Water companies attract suitors (ExpressAndStar)
A consortium of bidders led by Canadian infrastructure investment group Borealis is likely to make a bid of around £5 billion for Severn Trent Plc (LON:SVT) before a June 11 deadline, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Severn Trent Plc (LON:SVT) supplies 4.2 million households and businesses across the Midlands and parts of Wales. In a separate development, the Sunday Times said international suitors including Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth arm are considering buying a 30% stake in Yorkshire Water for between £1 billion and £1.5 billion, put up for sale by its private equity and fund owners.
Do e-cigarettes actually help you quit? (TheAge)
It would be the holy grail for Big Tobacco. For decades, tobacco companies have been trying to create a “safe” substitute for cigarettes. …In 1973, the National Newsagent described how “the race to find a suitable substitute that’s not harmful to health has now taken on a fresh drive, with the recent announcement that Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (LON:IMT) and ICI are soon to begin production of NSM – New Smoking Material – a tobacco substitute made from cellulose.” The headline read, “Safe Smoking is on the Way”.
Should I Invest In These 5 FTSE 100 Shares? HSBC Holdings plc, Imperial Tobacco Group PLC And National Grid plc (Fool)
To me, capital growth and dividend income are equally important. Together, they provide the total return from any share investment and, as you might expect, my aim is to invest in companies that can beat the total return delivered by the wider market. …So this series aims to identify appealing FTSE 100 investment opportunities and during recent weeks I’ve looked at National Grid plc (LON:NG), Anglo American plc (LON:AAL), HSBC Holdings plc (LON:HSBA), Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (LON:IMT) and British Sky Broadcasting Group plc (LON:BSY). This is how they scored on my total-return-potential indicators …A recent 22.7% drop in earnings per share, a 9.7% decline in operating profit and a 4.2% revenue contraction make me nervous about Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (LON:IMT).
Marks and Spencer to Sell ‘Sweet Green’ Tomato First Discovered in Israel (Algemeiner)
The British retailer Marks and Spencer Group Plc (LON:MKS) is benefiting from Israeli agriculture with what it claims is the first ripe and sweet green tomato on London’s High Street. The tomato, named the Sweet Green, was first discovered in Israel and has sugar levels of up to 12 on the Brix scale, a scientific measure developed to assess the quality and sweetness of fruit and vegetables. Marks and Spencer Group Plc (LON:MKS) tomato technologist Jo Oliver said: “We’re really excited to be bringing our customers the first ever sweet green tomato. “We’ve been working closely with our growers to create a stunning green tomato with a perfect balance of acidity and sweetness, that we are sure customers will love.
How Marks & Spencer Will Deliver Its Dividend (Fool)
I’m looking at some of your favorite FTSE 100 companies and examining how each will deliver their dividends. Today, I’m putting iconic high street retailer Marks and Spencer Group Plc (LON:MKS) under the microscope. …All was rosy with M&S in the mid-1990s. Within its final results for the year ended March 1998, the company was able to toast five-year earnings-per-share growth of 62% and dividend growth of 77%. The 1997-1998 dividend was covered around twice by both adjusted and statutory EPS — a healthy level of cover, you might think, with little imminent risk to shareholders’ income.
